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Antonio Castillo
If Antonio Castillo is not the oldest Kindred in Los Angeles, it is anyone’s guess who is. In addition to being one of the oldest active Kindred in L.A., if not the oldest, he also has the distinction of being one of the few elders who was Embraced in L.A. And yet for all of this age and history, Castillo has not climbed all that high in the hierarchy of the city. He is a respected Acolyte, well known for his faith and his understanding of Crűac, but strangely enough he has also rejected most offers to obtain more power within both the city and his covenant. Many suspect he could have easily been the Circle’s Hierophant; it is unlikely that anyone would have opposed him if he had tried. But he stepped aside for Lilya Nordstran, just as he stepped aside for her predecessor. In fact, although he is the city’s third Master of Elysium, he did not seek that role either. Instead Nordstran gave it to him. Castillo was born and raised in Los Angeles. His father was a Spanish colonist and rancher, his mother a local Indian woman. His childhood was typical in almost every respect until the day that his family began to enjoy success. By the time he was a young man, his family’s ranch had begun to turn vast profits. These were used to buy more land, which in turn generated more wealth. In 1788 Antonio was made into a ghoul by one of the local Sanctified Kindred who hoped to be able to use the young man to gain leverage over his family and finances. Within ten years, however, the young ghoul had proven himself in more ways than one, and his regnant choose to offer him the Embrace. However, if his sire hoped that Castillo would join Sanctified, he was sorely mistaken. While Antonio had been brought up in a Catholic household, he had also been educated in his mother’s unique spiritualism. And it was the ideals of his mother that most deeply resonated with him after the Embrace. More than that, he had chafed under the control of his regnant and wanted little to do with him or his covenant. The Vinculum probably wouldn’t have given him any choice in the matter, but the arrival of the Invictus “solved” the problem for him. Almost one hundred years after his Embrace, Castillo at last found an outlet for his energies and his faith. He joined the Circle of the Crone almost as soon as it established itself and quickly became a respected member. Since then he has led a quiet Requiem, refusing to back any one creed or cult over another and doing his best to remove himself from the political quagmire that is L.A. As such, he is considered a respected and highly sought after spiritual advisor and scholar of blood magic. Recently, however, he has begun to show some interest in the Universalists’ creed, as it seems to mirror some of his own thoughts on the matter. So far he has refused to openly support them, but he has given some subtle signs that he may well side with them in the future. For now, however, this elder seems content to go his own way and care for his own faith, as well as tend to Griffith Park. His participation within the Court remains minimal, however. In truth he does not really want the extra authority, or the extra responsibility, that comes with being a Master of Elysium, but he also understands that the position is an important symbol for any future Invictus-Acolyte cooperation cooperation and therefore discharges his duties both faithfully and efficiently.